Tibetan Special Envoy says Tibetans want trouble-free Olympics

File Photo of Special Envoy Lodi Gyari Gyaltsen (R) addressing media persons in Dharamshala, India

Lodi Gyari said His Holiness the Dalai Lama, believing the Olympics would have a positive impact on Chinese society, had endorsed holding the games in China before Beijing was selected in 2001.

"We would like them to be a success, not so much for the political leadership of China, but for China as a nation and Chinese as a people, because it is very important that she gets the needed international recognition and self-confidence," Gyari said in a recent interview in Washington.

Human rights activists have criticized plans by Western leaders such U.S. President George W Bush and French President Nicholas Sarkozy to attend the Olympics. But their presence in Beijing could be helpful, said Gyari.

"We are not at all opposed to international leaders participating, because it is important that the Chinese people feel that they are being honored, that there are global leaders there to celebrate together their coming of age," he said.

Scapegoating Risk

Gyari said in an interview that Chinese arrogance stemming from insecurity was "the biggest stumbling block" in Tibetan-Chinese relations.

"There is always that arrogance -- not arrogance at the personal level -- but institutional arrogance," said Gyari.

"China is a powerful nation and is becoming even more powerful economically and politically, but when it comes to issues like Tibet, they are so insecure," he added.

That attitude colours statements by Chinese officials portraying Tibetans as desperate for talks and repeating demands the Dalai Lama has already accepted, he said.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has denounced violence and supported that China should host the Olympics and has appealed to Tibetans not to protest during the Beijing Games.

The spring protests, which drew a harsh and still deepening crackdown across the Tibetan plateau, underscore why the Tibetans "certainly don't want any unhealthy disturbances" during the Olympics, Gyari said.

"If any disturbances happen, particularly if disturbances happen that have a kind of Tibet connection, it will give the Chinese authorities yet another opportunity to look for a scapegoat," he said.

--Reproduced from Zee News online

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